What's better to focus on, EXP levels or class levels?

[Excalibur5033]

I am level 17, and at level 4 for most classes. I noticed some time ago (around level 14 or so) that the enemies were scaling and that switching to class leveling seemed to help (was class level 2 the time), but lately things have been getting REALLY hard. I’m having a tough time with the current event, and I can barely make it through dungeons that I used to breeze through. I’m obviously behind the curve but I don’t know where the curve IS. As far as progression, I’m at the final battle with Wizpig on top of the mountain but haven’t seriously tackled it after getting trounced the first time.

Topic

[KillerKea]

It is much better to focus on gaining ranks. As your level increases so does the enemy’s, but when your rank increases the enemy does not get stronger. Once you are around rank 5-7 you shouldn’t have too much difficulty with anything so you should concentrate on gaining levels at that point.

[Angry Johnny]

It really depends.

As you said enemies scale with your regular levels so increasing that does not help as much in regular battles as increasing class levels does. However something to consider is the Set Items; they are locked in strength to the level you were when you got them (a set item gotten at level 19 is much weaker than the same set item gotten at level 32 for example) and these items are almost necessary to have in the Chronicle Caves and Arena.

I personally would go for the Class Levels by playing in the Sand Castle Reef level and gathering Mastery. By doing that you will also get enough exp to increase in your regular levels AND enough Snoutlings to buy Mastery in the Dojo. You might be a bit low in levels to play that level on auto though so you could try some other places like the first castle and see if that works better for you.

[Mopurglar]

Another major reason why the enemies start getting harder is because a disproportionate amount of your strength comes from your equipment, and the stats on any piece of gear is tied to the level at which you obtained it (edit – what @angryjohnny said). Would make sure your birds have the best equipment you can get. Mastery level 4 sounds pretty decent, I think, for exp level 17.

When rainbow riot comes, I might consider investing a few LC so you can get a couple of extra small spins. You’ll be impressed with how much even one set item will help make things easier for the next several levels.

[KerrAvon]

@excalibur5033 Level 17 rank 4 birds should be sufficient to get through Wiz Pig’s Castle.

As you have correctly observed, as your team of birds gains experience levels you are also expected to also gain mastery ranks for the bird classes.

You are also expected to pick up some set items as you progress through the game. If you don’t already, you should be taking the opportunity to do spins on the golden pig machine (GPM) during the rainbow riot. A few set items are very helpful to get through Wiz Pig’s Castle. It sounds like you are just missing a few good set items. Something that gives blues some health is really helpful.

Another thing that is helpful (not essential at this stage) is the Golden Chilli. This would also be very helpful in the current event.

Something else to consider is healing potions and chilli cakes. I did these levels without potions, but it took a long time to get through. And I lucked out because my Druid knocked out Wiz Pig three times in a row. But in this game you are also expected to use healing potions and chilli cakes. Don’t be afraid to use up to 6 healing potions and a couple of Veggie Cakes to get through WizPig’s Castle – at least first time around.

And lastly – one problem with collecting snoutlings to pay for mastery at the Dojo is that you also gain experience levels while you are doing this. You can get around this if you compete in the arena. You gain no experience or mastery from battles in the arena. But you can gain snoutlings from arena battles (which is slow) and by finishing high up on a leaderboard. I have been doing this to slowly build mastery for my level 18 team.

[Mopurglar]

@kerravon makes a good point about potions and Wizpig’s castle. I also got stuck at it and was ready to quit because it kept getting harder as I’d keep leveling up. At some point around level ~17, I decided to burn through a ton of potions so I could get past it and finish unlocking the map. Wish I had done that sooner.

[mich]

I personally would focus on experience levels first and class ranks later. While I agree that class ranks make fights easier and exp levels make them harder, there are some distinct advantages to reaching level 41:

• You can use the set items you roll on the golden pig machine for a much longer time, because until the maximum level is raised again (which has not happened for several months) they’re the best items you can get.
• You can gain ranks much faster once you’re L41, because if you collect snoutlings and mastery at SRC, the boss will only drop 40 instead of 100 snoutlings if you’re below L41. The additional money you earn can be spent at the dojo for more mastery.
• A higher level improves your birds for your friends, in a much quicker way than a higher rank does. In consequence, if you have a number of facebook friends, a high experience level will guarantee you a steady income of friendship essences. Among other things, you can use these to reroll event results in order to gain more mastery.

Of yourse, you cannot collect experience without collecting some mastery as well. My advice is to mostly stick to one team of birds (mostly ignoring the other birds for the time being) so that along with experience, these three will rise in mastery as well. If chosen carefully, this can also be the first team that can auto-play SRC, securing you a steady income of experience, snoutlings and mastery.

If you are unsure of what team to choose, I would suggest Wizard, Cap’n, Spies. This team is capable of completing SRC at pretty low ranks. Again, the snoutlings you earn can be spent on mastery for all birds, thus ranking up the others, so pretty soon you will have more than one team that can auto-play SRC.

[Neomerlinmagic]

I Leveled up long before the introduction of the mastery system, but I agree with @killerkea on this one. You Can still get your set pieces again later. In fact, at 41 you’ll find that you get exact copies of what you already have more often than not.

[Sir Falcon]

I was all Elite (5) before they introduced this. Now I’m at 8 (But my stone Guard that I got today means grinding up again…)

[KillerKea]

I think I was either rank 1 or a veteran (rank 3) at level 17 back then. I don’t think I reached the dojo till a much later level. I beat the whole game at elite (rank 5), but I haven’t replayed the game from the beginning like others so Rovio might have made things harder with the increased rank limit of 10. They just released an update where the max level is now 45 so it is best to save your LC and spend them on rainbow riot when you get to level 45. Until then just craft some decent 2 or 3 star items.

[KerrAvon]

@excalibur5033 It looks like you have started a topic that demonstrates the diversity of opinion amongst EPIC players. In your place, I would be working on mastery over experience levels – at least until you enter the Chronicle Caves.

You mentioned you were having difficulty with the dungeons. These, and the castles, increase in difficulty with increasing experience levels. So if you push up your experience level without improving your mastery ranks, then the dungeons and castles will become more difficult to complete.

When you get to the Chronicle Caves, these do not increase in difficulty with higher experience levels. They have a set difficulty – like the regular locations on the map. So both higher experience levels and mastery help.

At your stage in the game you also have to decide between spending your LCs on Paladin, the Golden Chilli, Bard and rolls on the golden pig machine (GPM). I think everyone agrees that you should only spend LCs at the GPM during the rainbow riot. A little later, when you start using more potions, you may also consider getting the Golden Cauldron. There are other threads that discuss the best approach to spending LCs on these items.

[FreckledPig147]

I might say Mastery. EXP currently fills up really quick, even without the Experience Potion. Levels only really matter once you reach Chronicle Cave (see the post above). But if you level up, your set items will be less useful than before, and your enemies in events, castles and dungeons will be strangely stronger than before, too. To explain my answer a little, here I will state the ways of earning each EXP type:

BIRD LEVEL

– Defeat enemies

– Use the Experience Potion to increase EXP earned from defeated enemies

Pretty much there’s only ONE way of earning level EXP.

MASTERY

– Defeat enemies

– Buy them from the Dojo

– Gain them from events

So here, there are 3 ways of earning mastery. As I said earlier, EXP can be gained fairly quicker, so you won’t have to worry about it at all. Mastery should be your focus.